Tower or Genovesa Island is an old collapsed volcano situated in the northern part of the archipelago. Misshapen walls are the entrance to a crater, which we used as our anchorage site. We arrived early with the sunrise to discover a fascinating world. This place is home to thousands of birds, and among those, a very colorful bird that we have been missing—the red-footed booby.
The place is so pristine that many measures have been put into place in order to prevent any disturbance to the wildlife. That is why we divided into groups, with some of our guests going to Darwin’s Bay and the others to Prince Philip’s steps, and then we switched. Everybody got to enjoy the wonders of Genovesa, with a minor impact to the wildlife!
Both walks were impressive, as birds have taken over this place. Off course, red-footed boobies were a highlight, but we also found frigatebirds displaying, swallow-tailed gulls nesting, Nazca boobies… it was breathtaking.
Snorkel and kayaking options were also offered along the caldera, and we were joined by several red-billed tropicbirds, who were our companions throughout this excursion!
Another highlight was to find a very curious predator: the short-eared owl. This bird has changed his schedules from nocturnal to diurnal, in order to hunt during the day instead of the night, just on Genovesa Island! It feeds mainly on storm petrels, which nest by thousands on this island.
The end of our week in the Galapagos could not have been any better! We left Genovesa behind during sunset, with its impressive landscape and its thousands of inhabitants. What amazing places this world of ours has, with so much just waiting to be discovered and explored.
